Leather iPod and iPhone cases just keep appearing, and we keep on checking them out in hopes that something new and exciting will rock our world. Today, we're looking at five new case designs from Capdase, CoverCase, JAVOedge, PDO, and XtremeMac; they range in price from $15 to $30 and vary quite a bit in features, but they all are similar enough to prior, competing products that we're only briefly covering each one.

As much as we’ve liked a number of PDO’s slightly-better-than-commodity-class cases for various iPods and the iPhone, the company’s new Flipp for iPod touch ($30) had us asking one question: what would it take to get companies to stop making me-too, flip-style iPod cases? The simple answer, of course, is “if people stop buying them,” but it seems like this stale category of cases never ceases to lure companies to release products that vary more in name than in looks or features.

Basically, Flipp is yet another generic black leather flip case based on the PDA cases of old, and is not unique or interesting in any way. With the standard level of inconvenience required by such cases, you have to flip the case’s front upwards to see and use the iPod touch screen; its controls are completely covered when the lid’s down. Semi-visible magnets hold the flap closed, a small, barely usable card slot’s on the inside, and velvet can be seen where the leather of the card slot ends. A non-detachable belt clip’s in the back, while Dock Connector and headphone port access are provided on the bottom. To its credit, the case is compatible with Universal Docks, and almost any accessory you might want to connect to iPod touch’s bottom; a film screen protector is also included.

Unfortunately, the age-old problems of these sorts of cases haven’t been solved, or even modestly addressed here. All of iPod touch’s corners are still exposed, and there’s no convertible, detachable option for the lid, or other stylistic touch that makes Flipp anything but a forgettable, plain addition to the scores of such cases that have come before. The only things that have changed here are the thickness, which thanks to the belt clip more than doubles the slender iPod’s, and the shape of the holes cut on the inner holder.

New name aside, Flipp brings nothing to the case market that we haven’t seen before, and at a time when other companies are trying hard to find ways to distinguish their cases from one another, that’s a fatal mistake. We’d sooner spend the same money on equally-priced options such as Belkin’s Leather Folio, Griffin’s Elan Convertible, or XtremeMac’s Verona Flip; Flipp offers comparatively commodity-class design without commodity pricing, and hence is unworthy of even our limited recommendation.

Editors' Note: iLounge only reviews products in "final" form, but many companies now change their offerings - sometimes several times - after our reviews have been published.
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